This invention relates to personal care products, and in particular to a patient bathing system in the form of an insulated, resealable package containing a series of disposable washcloths.
Co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/684,127, filed Jul. 19, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,311, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a patient bathing system having a label seal for sealing an elongated opening into the interior of the package. A series of washcloths are disposed within the package for dispensing. The washcloths are impregnated with an appropriate cleansing solution.
A flexible package normally has no structural integrity, and the package shape is largely dictated by the contents. When the package contains a series of impregnated washcloths or the like, however, at times it is important to have only a certain amount of cleansing solution contained within each washcloth, with the solution being evenly disbursed within the cloths. However, in a package formed by a flexible film, the package tends to squeeze the edges of the cloths contained therewithin, leading to an uneven dispersion of the solution within the cloths, and causing some cloths to have more solution than others. This result is unacceptable when the cloths are used for patient cleansing, particularly in a hospital environment where cleanliness and personal hygiene are important to resist the spread of infectious disease.
Other packaging has been developed to avoid the problem of squeezing the washcloths and causing uneven dispersion of the absorbed cleaning solution. For example, containers of rigid plastic can safely contain washcloths and the like, but such containers need to be molded, and can be quite expensive. Rigid cardboard containers also can be used, but are also expensive to manufacture, and must be appropriately lined to prevent loss of fluid from the washcloths.
Insulated packages or wrapping materials are also well known. Examples are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,942,917; 2,387,217; 3,428,103; 3,460,740; 3,583,459; 3,906,129; 4,521,910; 4,755,064; 4,881,646; 5,265,960 and 5,472,279. While all of these structures provide insulated structures, they are complex and therefore expensive to make. In addition, many of them have no structural integrity, therefore not protecting the contents from compression.